NOVEL NEXT Chapter 13: Hunt
13
[ 1st beast encountered. ]
[ Slug Winged Raptor, 2nd Gate low rank. ]
Vritra stared at this message with wide eyes and knew all of them were in great danger.
His mind processed the danger and his body reacted instantly.
" RUN- " Vritra released a loud shout, while trying to move away from there.
ROAAAAAAAARRRRRRR
A deafening roar suddenly thundered from behind the group, freezing everyone's body with fear and shock.
And finally, the terrifying figure of the Raptor was revealed as it pounced towards the group, faster than any of them could react.
Its skin was made of scales and a slimy material covered its entire body, the raptor had retracted its wings behind its back, as it towered over them with a height of 10 feet.
The Raptor's fingers were pointy and sharp, while its massive and heavy body gave it an imposing appearance.
Its face resembled that of a crocodile, but its mouth was shorter compared to theirs, revealing the Raptor's terrifying sharp teeth even from a distance.
As it stood on its long legs, the Raptor's gaze was locked onto its first prey.
The group of teenagers had frozen completely on seeing such a terrifying creature so close for the first time in their lives, their hearts felt like they were about to explode.
Vritra was equally terrified as he was surprised, while his body refused to move.
THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP
The Raptor moved towards the group of the attendants, its giant body moved faster than their eyes could follow.
The sound of its footsteps made their bodies tremble, they only had the time to turn their heads and look at the approaching danger.
Finally, the beast drew closer to its first target, Linda.
The cute little girl sitting on the opposite side of the camp looked terrified as she saw the horrifying figure right in front of her eyes.
This beast was at the 2nd Gate, and seeing these powerless kids it had decided to attack, as it possessed some level of intelligence.
The Raptor was not able to sense the presence of the nearby rune masters, since they either had the ability to hide their presence or were just stronger than the beast.
If it had sensed the presence of even a single person at the 4th or even 3rd Gate, it probably wouldn't have attacked.
Linda closed her eyes as she released a loud and shrill cry in fright, which brought the others back to reality.
"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh-"
The Raptor raised its right claw and brought it down on the helpless little girl, striking her body with its sharp and pointy claw.
THWACK
Linda had no time to react, as the heavy claw of the beast struck her petite body on the right shoulder.
Her eye balls almost popped out as she threw out a mouthful of blood.
It could have easily torn her body apart, but as if to enjoy its hunt, the beast held back on its strength, as its claws tore through her soft flesh.
Blood spluttered on the nearby teenagers. Her small body was sliced from her shoulder down to her belly, making her upper body move in two different directions.
Her cute little face was now bloodied and terrified, filled with pain. Her eyes were filled with tears, pleading for someone to save her life or at least take away all this excruciating pain.
THUD
Her little right arm was chopped off.
Linda's once petite and cute body was now broken and battered, with one limb missing and get body torn.
Her spine was shattered from the impact along with most of the bones in her body. Her flesh was torn and lacerated while her skin was ripped apart.
Her jagged bones were exposed with her internal organs falling out of her body. As the beast retracted its claw, the intestine of the young girl was pulled along with it, twisted between the beast's fingers.
Before the tear could escape from her sorrowful eyes, life had completely disappeared. Her body fell back in a pool of her blood and organs.
And only a look of unbearable pain and utter heartbreak was left on her once cheerful and joyous face.
The fragile little girl was gone forever, taking away with her the sonorous laughter and heartwarming smile.
The place was hauntingly silent, all the eyes fixed on Linda's broken body.
None of them could breathe for a moment, as they stared at Linda's lifeless body with disbelief and fear, a sight they will never be able to forget for the rest of their lives.
ROAR
Seeing the death of its first victim, the Raptor released a loud roar as if reeling in the pleasure of tearing her small body.
Then raising its right claw, the beast licked off her blood with its gaze narrowing on the remaining teenagers, its merciless eyes shining with a chilling, bloodthirsty grin.
Few of them could not move their bodies at all, frozen because of the dread and the traumatic scene.
While some of them shivered and their first instinct was to escape from there, from the painful and cruel death.
They fell back from their seats, and with trembling hands pushed their bodies away from the towering Raptor, finally they managed to stand on their unsteady legs and began to run away as fast as they could.
Sana was one of them, her breathing was ragged and the only thought in her head right now was to run as far away from there as she could.
The beast didn't chase after them.
With its speed, the Raptor would easily be able to catch them all and it loved hunting, the more frightened they were the more the Raptor enjoyed it.
Then it fixed its vertical pupils on the member of the group who had failed to escape, they were still frozen on the stones, their bodies refused to respond.
Vritra was one of them.
' Ah, so a part of him was still here with me, I guess memories weren't the only thing I inherited from him, even his emotions are affecting my actions. '
He only now realised that the original Vritra had brought changes to his emotions and behaviour, more than he expected.
Even though the beast was frightening, he had been in enough near-death situations in his previous life to not be affected this much. He should have reacted better than these teenagers.
Now he had become more apathetic and silent. Till now, he hadn't thought too much about the changes, since it felt natural.
But now, he got to know about the changes in such a dangerous situation.
' So the rune masters chose not to help, and currently there isn't anything I can do against this beast. ' Vritra's mind was as clear as ever, but his body just refused to move an inch.
Behind him, even Jackal was frozen in place, staring at the disgusting large creature before he lost consciousness and fell backwards.
The Raptor growled and began to take slow steps towards the two of them, each step sending shivers through the ground.
It was leaving a slimy footprint with every step.
It raised its right claw again, enjoying the fear in its prey's eyes but was in no hurry to just end his euphoric moment.
GROWL
In the next instant, it brought down its dangerous claw down towards the frozen Vritra and the unconscious Jackal, planning to finish them both with a single attack.